Apollo program had many Oklahoma engineers

In the early days of NASA and the space program, many Oklahomans had critical jobs to protect astronauts and make sure their missions were a success.

Bill Bates monitored Neil Armstrong’s portable life support system as he stepped out of the lunar lander.

John Aaron solved a computer issue that threatened Apollo 12 moments after launch, and oversaw electrical power use during the Apollo 13 crisis.

W.W. “Woody” Wilson ran an engineering shop that built tools for the lunar missions. Tom Weichel handled abort procedures and was the flight controller in charge of calculating retrorocket burns.

Oklahoma natives were seemingly present at every stage of the Apollo program, especially at Mission Control in Houston.

Historian Bill Moore collected those names and stories for a seven-part documentary series on OETA and a book published by the Oklahoma Historical Society called "Oklahomans in Space."

Moore’s research includes stories of farm boys turned space explorers like Aaron, who grew up near Mangum and got his physics degree from what’s now called Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.

When Apollo 12 was hit by lightning during its launch, Aaron famously instructed the flight crew on how to solve the problem. Computer screens on the spacecraft and at Mission Control were garbled, but he’d seen the same thing during a test the year earlier and independently tracked down the problem.

Aaron also helped save the Apollo 13 crew by overseeing efforts to minimize power use after an explosion crippled the command module.

“A lot of these guys worked on the family farm or the family ranch. Hardworking, methodical, solved their own problems,” Moore said. “That kind of training gave them the skill sets needed to solve the problems in mission control when they were confronted with them.”

They were also leaders. Oklahoma’s contribution to the space program includes Flight Directors Milt Heflin, Don Puddy, Charles Lewis and Al Pennington.

Many of those early engineers graduated from the same place, that relatively small regional college in Weatherford. It wasn’t a coincidence.

The college’s physics professor, J.R. Pratt, helped push his students into careers at NASA. The first of his students to apply was Jim Bates, who graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State College in 1962.

Bates had seen an article in The Oklahoman that NASA was conducting interviews in Oklahoma City.

“Jim made a point to come over on that one Sunday afternoon, and he got the job,” said Moore.

Pratt knew his students would probably end up working for oil companies, but he encouraged them to consider the new field of space exploration. He had students fill out the job applications, then sent them directly to his former student, Jim Bates.

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“Jim would walk it to personnel. That was the pipeline from Southwestern to Houston,” said Moore.

The state was also home for several astronauts. Tom Stafford grew up in Weatherford before commanding Apollo 10 and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Apollo 13 pilot Fred Haise got his engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma and served in the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott, Enid, worked in the Apollo 11 support crew.

“Oklahoma's been the only state that's had a native be in every program we've ever had,” said Stafford.

Thomas P. Stafford, Apollo 10 commander for the first flight to the moon, grew up in Weatherford. Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, left, and Cosmonaut Alexey A. Leonov meet during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. [provided] NASA engineer John Aaron was one of several Oklahomans involved in the Apollo space program. [PROVIDED]

Dale Denwalt

Dale Denwalt has closely followed state policy and politics since his first internship as an Oklahoma Capitol reporter in 2006.
He graduated from Northeastern State University in his hometown of Tahlequah. Denwalt worked as a news reporter in...
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